Hair Loss in Dogs

My 1 year old German Shepherd has always had a full, long coat since we got him as a young pup, but over the last 3 months, I’ve noticed the fur on his hind legs is significantly thinner. There are no spots that are completely bald, but his top coat is short and thin and you can clearly see his white undercoat. I never see him chewing the area, he doesn’t seem to be itchy at all. But he is a little protective of being touched on his hips, is of the area is sensitive.
I’ve asked my vet multiple times, but she dismissed it as “fine” then eventually told me to just give him 6 Benadryl 2x/day, every single day. (Which is ridiculous). But she ruled out mange, fleas, and infection.
He’s on a homemade diet, so I tested an elimination diet with multiple potential allergens to no avail. We’ve added fish oil, a high quality nutrition supplement, and an immune support supplement. And his coat looks beautiful—long, shiny, full, no-shedding— everywhere except his hind legs. Still. It’s almost like the fur isn’t growing back period.
I’m still at a loss.

I have a 7 year old yorkie..She has been losing a lot of weight, and her hair is falling out mostly in her face and patchen on back. She does not seem to be in any discomfort, eating normally, playing etc. What could this be?

My dog was rescued after being found as a young 2-3 month old pup. He had many issues when he was first found, and was in isolation most of his life until he was rescued by me at 11 months old, and has been the only dog in our household since his rescue. He is a 9 y.o. mix (Great Pyrenees, Collie, Shetland Sheepdog – verified by DNA testing) who has been suffering from significant hair loss around his neck, back legs, tail, side around rib cage, and now behind his left ear. This began approximately three (3) years ago, and was noticed after he was shaved for the summer for the 3rd or 4th time of his life. We do not believe this has anything to do with him being shaved, it was just noticed that his hair wasn't growing back after the shave three (3) summers ago. Thyroid condition also discovered 3/4+ years ago, and he is on medication for his thyroid (0.8 Thyro-Tabs Canine [levothyroxine sodium tablets] twice per day). We have tried diet changes, raw food, no grains, etc., and tried numerous things recommended by different veterinarians, including a dermatologist, a naturopath, a homeopath, and others. Upon adoption and for many years, he had a thick beautiful hair all over. It is heartbreaking to see him so patchy, with bald spots all over. He is a mellow dog, doesn’t enjoy other dogs so much, sleeps a lot, likes to roam around our large property in Texas, doesn’t seem to be itchy or uncomfortable in anyway.

My dog has been diagnosed with allergies. The kind is unknown but, it is thought to be a mold allergy. This is because when the mold count is high he tends to get worse. His allergies started about 3-4 years ago. He use to rub his eyes and face on anything he could until they were raw and bloody. He wears a cone now to prevent that. He still scratches and has hair loss on his hind quarters. On ether side of his spine and back legs. I can easily see his skin and it only seems to be getting worse. He has chewed a bald spot on the bottom of his tail and a few other small spots on his tail. He constantly has dry flaky skin as well. I check for fleas and never find any. They really don't have any hair to hide under anymore. I have tried changing his food and even spent a few months making his food to try to see if it was a food allergy. That didn't work. I have gotten his allergies fairly under control by getting him an allergy shot once every 2 weeks. Unfortunately this only suppressed the symptoms for about a week and a half each time. After about two weeks he is back to his normal itchy, begging to be scratched, self. I would like to know if a scratch test is worth getting done or not. I know allergy shots can be harmful if they are taken for long periods of time. So would a scratch test help me toward getting him "cured" or at least desensitized? Or is it just another test that's going to cost me an arm and a leg and do nothing for Kimbo except get him more allergy shots? I don't want him to have to wear a cone the rest of his life.

Hello,
My dog just recovered from distemper. I have since notice an excessive shedding of fur. You can literally pull out the fur from the skin. Please advise. Thank you.

My 18 month old Goldendoodle has been losing significant hair. She has bald patches all over her body, and her overall coat has drastically thinned. It's even coming in very coarse and strange looking along her spine. She looks a bit like she has a mohawk in her neck and back and across her hips. She has had tests run for mange, yeast, bloodwork (which only shows a slightly elevated lymphocyte reading), cortisol levels were checked to rule out Addison's Disease. We are so concerned about her. She is a black dog, and when we bathe her, hair is just everywhere. The only things that have changed in her daily life are the addition of a new puppy about six weeks ago. The two get along extremely well and play constantly. She is eating a grain free, fish based food, as we thought it might be an allergy issue. She has been grain free since birth, but chicken free for the past six weeks. We are still seeing no improvement. I would love any thoughts you might have. Thank you!

My dog randomly has a large patch of hrs missin inbetwen his shoulder blades. We see no apparnet cut. His skin is oozing a litle and discolored.Appears to be irritating but notsuper painful

Our dog is a American Eskimo. Had very long hair but the last year had been peeling right off. Now he has more skin than hair and not growing back. Vet called it something which I can't remember, but said it happens in long haired dogs as they get older. There is no remedy. He doesn't scratch or seem irritated but it itches around the patches where skin is dry and flaky, and eventually falls off or is peeled off, and it doesn't hurt him. He is 13 years old and harder to walk now, but still has a appetite. I'm afraid for the upcoming winter and so much skin showing when he goes out to potty. Any ideas how to make him more comfortable?

My male dog who’s two years old, loses hair on his tail and front of his ears in the winter. In the summer he grows back and is fine. He does lick himself a lot and has fleas. He gets regular baths every few weeks with mange shampoo and flea killing shampoo, why might he be losing his hair?

My lab had flea allergies as a pup, was treated and has been fine for the last year. About a month ago, she started losing hair by her hind legs, and belly. I started washing her every other day. However, the hair loss is spreading symmetrically on both sides of her belly and is now rising up towards her back. She does scratch, but off and on. She is on grain free duck and potato diet with fish oil supplements. She is also losing hair on her neck. She never had fluffy ears like her brother - very sparse ear hair. Behaviorally, she is great. Very active and loving. She is on flea pills and has been all her life. She needs help!!!

Ive had my pup for over a year now and it seems like his hair loss is getting worse and worse its all over his back and now patches on his tummy are starting to show up. It doesn't seem to bother him much but at night he's constantly either nibbling on himself or licking himself (not necessarily in the places he's bald but in general).ive gotten his skin scraped I've given him vitamins I've changed his diet iand our vet has kinda given up and told us to see a dematoligist but I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on someone to just give us some antibiotic and send us on our way. I bathe him in an oatmeal shampoo (Jax and daisy brand) but it doesn't help either he also has fish oil drizzled on his food. At this point I've lost all hope. Does anyone have any other recommendations for me? I'm kinda at a loss at the moment. I just want the best for my baby. (Side note just a little background info on him. I rescued him directly from a puppy mill where I found him in a super small cat carrier in the direct sun light no food no water. In thinking maybe the 100+ degree weather fried his skin but I'm praying there's still hope!)

My two year old mixed breed pup has been losing hair since the end of winter. It began on her legs and is moving up and is now on her chest and shoulders. It is even and parallel-no hot spots or random areas There remains a thin covering of a few hairs and revealed underneath is a spotted skin (which I assume is normal). She doesn't exhibit any unusual scratching or licking (the average quick scratch now and then). The vet tested her thyroid(normal) and she is on a monthly flea treatment. We do not know what breeds she is made of so I'm not sure if this is breed specific.
Shes not in any pain and it seems purely cosmetic but still I worry. What should my vet do, if anything?

I have a 16 year old Shitzu/Yorkie mix. Her fur has been thinning for awhile, but now has left her with near bald spots and warm, red skin. It smells like a yeast infection. She has been treated with flea medication recently and has no other conditions.

Luigi is 1e year old yorkie. He has lost all hair in his dpine & recent stool sample showed no problem. He is on prednisone liquid twice a day for pain of arthritis in legs. Poor little fellow is blind also for a year now. Leg pain bad so vet added a bit of neurontin too. I'm not sure why the hair loss but recall now it was his feet that lost hair months ago. Didn't think much about it then,but should have been a red flag!
Neurontin good for pain but rapidly caused excess hair loss, whole spine, do I stopped it. He's so miserable, constantly walking & though he eats 6 meals a day like he's starving, weight loss extreme! I'm desperate to help him but 3 vet's so far are stumped. Appreciate any advice,it's devestating to me too.

I hahave a 7 year old husky mix. He is playful, eats, and doesn't scratch. Yet he has two small missing patch of hair near his mouth. They are red or anything like it.

Cooper is three years old. Cooper had ringworm about eight months ago and he lost hair on both his sides. On each side he has a bald spot the size of the circumference of a regular coffee cup. We were given shampoo to help get rid of the ring worms and it did However, his hair has never grown back. Is there anything we can do to help his hair grow back or will he always be like this ? Our vet said it may never grow back but I wanted a second opinion. Poor little guys bald spots get cold.....

He has no hair on neck, chest and lower area near genitalia. He is not scratching, chewing or biting. Was he born with apolacia? What can I do to treat this? The Vet did not say anything about this.

My German Shaperd dog (1 year old) has had this skin conition on his back which shows thinning of his hair and has a dark grey color, a dandriff and white growth.

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My dog lost a lot of weight and her hair thinned. Took her to the vet-diagnosed with diabetes. Now her BG's are under control, so what do I do for her hair. I got coconut cream for her dry nose.

I have a 10 month old lab puppy his hair is starting to fall off down the center of his back you can literally pull chunks of hair out from his back which makes him go bald when you pet him he has to itch all the time, he get hotspots around his neck and down by his lower back and on his tail we have change his food too sweet potatoes and salmon for about a week now what can we do to help with his hair falling out and what treatment can I go buy ?

Recently one of our Labrador pups, (she's four years old now) has started losing her hair, gradually over time, in no specific area, but we are starting to notice balding spots under her chest and we are getting quite worried. She should be getting her winter coat now it's October, but I'm going to have to buy her a coat as her fur is so thinned out all over. The only odd thing we've noticed is a little patch above her back paw pad that she chews every now and again and she developed a pussy blister in that area that was treated with antibiotics and hibiscrub. It still feels like there is something in it and she won't let me touch it to find out. Could there be a tiny foreign body causing such distress and hair loss? She is eating and pooing fine and generally in good spirits. When we walk her she has boundless energy and doesn't hesitate to run after her ball. Please help, thankyou.

I have been told after extreme testing for any other possibility, that he is 12 years old and never be altered his testosterone levels are high. The vet wants to neuter him. Do you think this would help.
Believe me all through testing has been done. He is active, no rubbing areas but living in upstate NY he can't make threw cold winters. Please help. thank you

Hello,
I would be grateful to know (1) if a skin scrape on hair follicles is done at the site of the hair loss (now bare skin circle around eye) can the hair re-grow at the scrape location or will it have been permanently damaged by the scrape and (2) can a random skin scrape be done elsewhere on the dog's body, with the expectation of diagnosis, even though no other skin is affected? Thank you.

I have had my dog desheded but since this the hair loss is a lot more than ever before
She has never lost hair on this scale she has been using same flea stuff and shampoo she has red little spots on her stomach

My beagle is loosing hair. Drinks, eats, plays. Scratches frequently

My 7 year old American Bulldog started chemo treatments 3 months ago. We are sure her hair loss is associated to the treatments. I was more curious as to what we can do to assist her in growing her hair back. She is white haired with tan her face, muzzle has been the biggest area of hair loss. She is shredding quite a bit as well her belly and back side are showing different pigmentation. Open to recommendation for her condition.

I have a 2 year old lab mix who is loosing some fur on her sides. She is still eating normally and her behavior has not changed. I noticed her skin is dry but she is not itching or uncomfortable in anyway. Is this something I should take her to the vet? I bought her oatmeal conditioner to help moisturize her skin when we wash her. Could it be something more severe?

I can't figure out what is wrong and what happened to my dog. Woke up one morning to find that he is missing a patch of hair. He has been scratching himself a lot lately, but I figured it was due to the heat and him shedding. The spot with missing hair is red and seems like pus is coming from it. His other hair is sticking on the spot with no hair.

My dog has been losing hair and used to scratch. She no longer scratches at all. Her companion had to be put to sleep a month ago and was 15. I have noticed a couple of mole looking spots randomly in balding spots on her. No fleas other ticks. She is a 10 year old Scottie and has always been active. She now seems lethargic and distant. She eats lamb and rice as always and gets grooming every 6 months. Please offer advice.

My dog has an all black coat but the fur on her sides has started to lighten to a more brownish color. She doesn’t have any bald spots and hasn’t been itching but I noticed the hair very easily comes out in the spots that have lightened. The rest of her fur sheds normally except for the spots on her sides that comes out in clumps

I rescued my Australian Shepherd back in December. Her previous owners had done a pretty good hack job of cutting her hair... Most of it has grown back in nicely, except for around her rump and her hind legs. This area is still extremely short and looks like it has just recently been shaved. Is there anything that can aid in helping it grow back? She does lick this area a lot.

My 2.5yr old male english bulldog has had hair loss on his left flank side due to seasonal allergies but this year his usual spot has become a heart shape in the same spot but hasn't filled back in yet should I take him back to our usual vet for blood work?

My 5 yr old female Rottweiler has a random balding spot on top of her head that's oozing clear & the hair around it is crusty. She doesn't mess with it & allows me to help try clean it. It's only started in the last 4 days yet it keeps growing without reason.